Employee Self Service (ESS) is a feature that comes with most Human Resources softwares. Most companies are adopting it because of its many benefits, primarily because it saves time and reduces workload from HR staff. ESS allows employees to take care of different tasks that would otherwise be completed by an HR department staff member. Depending on the HRM software that a company goes with, employees are able to log into their portal at any time, anywhere, as long as they have access to the internet. There, they can view their pay stubs, work schedules, request time off, change their personal information, etc. If you are considering getting an ESS software, then you should read on the following pros and cons.

Interested in the benefits of ESS and Onboarding intergration? Read on!

PROS

1. Reduced Paperwork

Say goodbye to the mountains of paper on your desk. With ESS there is no need for having paper forms anymore. Employees can log into their portal and complete all forms that are required, and even sign them electronically.

2. Available 24/7

With ESS your employees can access their data at any time from their desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. They no longer have to wait for their next work day to view their paystubs or to access their schedules. The availability is always the same, allowing employees to view their personal data, pay stubs, benefit summaries, and even request time off.

3. Increased Efficiency

A good ESS software will streamline your processes, reducing workload from the HR department. All the information employees enter in their ESS portal will automatically feed into payroll.

4. Reduced Workload For Admins

By empowering your employees with ESS, company administrators no longer have to worry about responding to routine employee inquiries, such as payroll-related questions, time-off requests, and personal information updates.

CONS

1. Less Direct Contact With Employees

Because with ESS employees can access their own information at any time, they no longer have to interact much with their HR department.

2. Increased Errors

Not everyone is tech-savvy, so there’s a chance that the rate of errors in personnel records may increase. Even though the HR staff may also make mistakes, they are trained and more familiar with the system. Also, since there is less human oversight, some errors may go undetected. This may later cause problems with payroll once the information is transferred over.

3. Training

Every software requires proper training in order to be well used and understood by everyone. Managers need to set time aside to train their department on how to use the software. Usually, the ESS provider will offer free training, but these trainings are geared toward company administrators. After they have been trained, it becomes their responsibility to train their employees.

4. Cost

Like most softwares, it requires time and money to set up Employee Self Service. The cost usually depends on the company’s needs, as well as the provider they choose to partner with. There are many companies out there that offer Employee Self Service, but choosing one that will streamline your processes and flow into payroll smoothly is the hard part. Dominion’s platform is designed to do exactly that.

If you are looking to reduce your workload and streamline your processes in order to focus on other tasks, click here. With Dominion’s ESS employees can access their information at any time, check their schedules and punches, shop benefits during your open enrollment period, update their records, and they can even access historical reports. Click here to learn more about how Dominion’s Employee Self Service can make your life easier.